Improvement in accountants  hand-rests



W.`D. SLOAN.

Accountants Hand-Best.

Pate'nted July 20,1875'.

N. PETERS. FHoTo-LITHQGRAPMEH, wAsHmGTon. D c,

YVILLIAM D. SLOAN, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN ACCOUNTANTS HAND-RESTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. l, dated July 20, 1875;application tiled February 2, 1875 `:To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VILLIAM D. SLOAN, of

Ythe city, county, and State of New York. have invented certainImprovements in Accountants7 Hand-Rests, of which the following is aspecification Book-keepers, accountants, and others having occasion towrite in heavy ledgers and the like are familiar with the inconvenienceex` perienced in writing at the lower part or foot of the page, due tothe dilference in height between the page and the desk, upon which,unless additional support is provided, the hand and wrist of the penmanmust rest while writing. rlhe few devices hithertodevised to remedy thissource of fatigue, inconvenience, and trouble have proved inadequate toany useful purpose, because ot their lack of stability when in use, andtheir lack of easy and accurate adjustability to any height or positionrequired.

My invention consists in an adjustable rest, constructed with a clamp orhold-fast, whereby it may be rigidly, though temporarily, fixed upon thecover of the volume, and, as it were, form an extension of the saidcover, movable with the volume, but fixed with reference thereto, andcapable of adjustment to the exact level of the page, whereby writing atthe bottom of the latter is rendered as convenient and easy as writingat the top thereof. The invention further comprises certain novel comAbinations of parts, whereby the aforesaid main or essential feature ofmy said invention is advantageously carried into practice.

Figure l is a plan view of my accountants rest, with the shelf or topplate detached, made according to my invention. Fig. 2 is an invertedplan view ofthe same. Fig. 3 is a front edge view of the same; and Figs.4. and 5 are detached views, representing certain parts of themechanism.

A is a base plate or frame, formed with a rabbet, a, at one edge, theilange a at the top of the rabbet being of such width as to afford agood bearingsurt'ace, and extending, preferably, the whole length oftheplate A. Un the under side of this base-plate is a shaft, B, providedwith a thumb-piece, b, at one end, and at the other with a longeccentric, A', the latter being circumferentially grooved or corrugated,as indicated at a. Shown at o is a spiral spring, coiled about the shaftB, attached at one end, a, thereto, and at the other, b, to the plate A,in such manner that the torsion of the spring will tend to turn theeccentric upward toward the liange a', to iirmly clasp between the saideccentric and ange the cover of the book, when the apparatus is appliedthereto t'oruse, as hereinafter set forth. D is the shelfor top plate,upon which the hand of the accountant rests when making use of theinvention. This plate is connected with the base-plate A by the twolinks C, arranged near the ends, one or both of these links beingprovided with a supplemental or; toggle link, U', pivoted at one end tothe central part of C, and at the other to the base-plate. The links Uare pivoted at their lower ends, one to each of two horizontal racks, E,that gear into opposite sides of a spur-pinion,' F. The pivot d of thispinion F works in a suitable bearing provided in the base-plate A, andhas upon its lower extremity a ratchet-wheel, Gr, into which engages astop-pawl, f, pressed inward by the spring g. On the ratchet-wheel G isa downwardly-projecting thumb-piece, h, whereby the ratchet-wheel may beturned in one direction. The links C have at their lower endslaterally-projecting studs e, which work in longitudinal guides in thebase-plate A, in order to retain the said links in position when movedin one direction or the other in the adjustment, as hereinafter fullyexplained, ot' the shelf or top plate. A rod, l, extends from the outerend of the pawl j' through a Supporting-staple, t', to the opposite edgeof the base-plate, the arrangement being such that by pulling the rodinward the pawl will be brought out of gear with the ratchetfwheel. Byturning the latter in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2,the spur-pinion F is caused to move outward the racks E, and,consequently, the lower ends of the links C, thereby causing the outerends of the links to rise, and, consequently, to elevate the shelf ortop plate D to a height proportioned to the degree ot' movement given tothe racks E, as aforesaid. When the ratchet-wheel is released the pawl fprevents any reverse movement thereof, and, consequently, sustains theshelf at the height to which itis adjusted. The supplemental links Cbrace the links C, so that Y the shelf retains its position parallelwith the base-plate A despite any inequalities of pressure upon it, as,for example, when the hand of the writer or accountant bears solely onone end thereof.

In the use of the apparatus the shaft B is turned by means of thethumb-piece b to bring the eccentric away from the flange a', whereuponthe said flange is placed upon the upper edge of the cover ofthe ledger,or similar volume, the latter being opened with the eccentric A extendedunderneath the same. The thumb-piece bis then released, and the spring cthen turns the eccentric up against the cover, (indicated at G', in Fig.4,) so that the edge of the said cover is firmly clamped between theflange andA the eccentric; the

circumferentially grooved or corrugated surface of the eccentricpreventing any longitudinal slip thereof, or consequent outwarddisplacement of the apparatus from the cover. The apparatus being thusfixed upon the volunie, and the latter being opened at the requisitepage, the ratchet-wheel Gr is actuated to raise and adjust the shelf Dwith its upper surface ush with the said page. The shelf is thus made toconstitute, as it were, a continuation of the page, and to ai'ord a restfor the hand and wrist of the writer or accountant, so that he can writeat the lower part or bottom ofthe page with the same facility anddispatch as at the upper part thereof. When it is desired to lower ordepress the shelf D the rod I is pushed inward to disengage thc pawl ffrom the ratchet-wheel, wherenprm the shelf falls to and upon thebase-plate, from which it may again be lifted and adinsted to any heightdesired. When it is required to detach the apparatus from the volume theeccentric is turned down by means of the thumb-piece b, and the coverbeing thus released, the apparatus is readily removed.

WVhat I claim as my invention isl. An adjustable accountants rest,constructed with a clamp or hold-fast, whereb5T it may be iixedlyattached to the cover of a ledger or like volume, substantially asherein set forth.

2. In an adjustable accountants rest, the base-plate A, constructed withthe rabbet a, the circumferentially-grooved eccentric A', spring c, andthumb-piece b, the whole arranged for operation, in the attachment ofthe apparatus to a suitable volume, substantially as and for the purposeset forth.

3. The links C, supplemental link or links C', spur-pinion F,ratchet-wheel Gr, and pawl f, in combination With the base-plate A andshelf or top plate D,the whole arranged for operation in the adjustmentof the shelf or top plate, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

WM. D. SLOAN.

Witnesses:

W. M. EDWARD, JNO. MASTERS.

